Two Tickets To Las Vegas
by HelenItsme
Summary: “Hey it’s me. Look, I’m at the airport and I have two tickets to Las Vegas. Do you want to get married tonight?”


**Two Tickets To Las Vegas.**

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me. Look, I'm at the airport and I have two tickets to Las Vegas. Do you want to get married tonight?"

Silence. Then, "Lucas, is that you? What are you talking about?"

"After all the bad things that happened lately, I found myself buying two plane tickets to Vegas."

"That's, that's great Luke."

He could tell she was confused by the tone of her voice. "I need to clear my head. And I thought that you could use some free time too."

"So you bought a ticket for me?"

"Yeah, I did."

She paused. "I know your intentions are good but… I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I have work, Lucas! I can't just bail on everyone. Plus, it's you and me we're talking about. You and I both know nothing good can happen when we're in Vegas and there's alcohol involved."

"Who said anything about alcohol?"

There was a sigh and a whisper, "You asked me to marry you."

"What?"

"Just minutes ago, when I picked up the phone. You said that you bought two tickets to Vegas, and that you wanted to marry me tonight."

He knew she would start that topic eventually. Without hesitation he had just blurted it out, not thinking about how absurd it may have sounded.

"Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?" she said, like she was reading his mind.

"I thought you liked a little craziness once in awhile." He joked. Trying to lighten the mood a little, but it didn't seem to work. At all.

"This is not something to joke about, Lucas."

He sighed now too. "I know, I'm sorry. But what do you want me to say?"

"How about an explanation of why you would ask me something like that?"

"Because I mean it?"

"But you don't! Why the hell would you say something like that when you've said "yes" to Lindsay just a couple of weeks ago?"

"I love Lindsay-"

"Now I really think you've lost it."

"-but I'm not _in_ love with her."

It was silent for a good minute. He wondered if she'd hung up on him. But by the light sound of her breathing, he knew she was still there.

"You need to make up your mind."

"That's what Hales tells me all the time." He sounded annoyed. He was, actually.

"She's right. First you asked Peyton to marry you when we were just nineteen. Then, when she said no, you proposed to Lindsay. And now you are proposing to me?" she let out a forced chuckle. "It's almost funny if it wasn't so screwed up."

"Ever since Angie came our your life, we've gotten closer. Right?"

"Right." She sounded hesitant, probably not sure where he was going with this.

"And it made me realize how much I wanted a life like that. A wife, a kid, having a family. For just those few weeks with Angie, I got to pretend that I had one."

"Luke…"

"I loved that feeling. And when I got home, everything was back to the usual mess."

"You can't just marry me and wanting a family with me because you can't deal with your own problems! In case you haven't noticed, Angie is gone, Lucas. The family you've faked to be your own is not existing, so you have to let it go."

He bit his lip out of frustration. "I still mean what I said."

"I-I'm not doing this right now."

He could tell that she was about to hang up on him.

"Wait, Brooke, just wait and listen to what I have to say. Please, do not hang up on me."

"Fine. Just… Just please make me not say it again."

"Say what again?"

It came out as nothing more than a whisper, and he had trouble hearing her. "That Angie is gone."

He felt his heart melt. "Oh Brooke…"

"Don't you get it? I don't need you saying things like that to me. Not now. I'm a freaking emotional wreck because of that little kid, Luke! It breaks my heart every time I think about her. Of course I've thought about it too, about being a family… But we can't."

"Why not?"

"Because we're freaking Brooke and Lucas! That's why!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"We do not work as a couple. As friends? Sure. But as lovers? No. We've got two failed relationships to prove that."

"We were just kids back then. It could work right now." He tried to come up with a better argument, but failed.

"You've always loved someone else more than me. Whether it was Peyton, or Lindsay or even your love for basketball. I was never number one."

"That's not true."

"But it is and we both know that. I don't want to be in a relationship where I am the only one who puts everything in the background and you in the first place. I can't and I won't do that. Not again."

He understood. He couldn't ask something like that from her again. "You're right. I'm sorry Brooke, I shouldn't have asked you to marry me."

"It's ok, I guess." Her voice was raspy and something in the back of his head told him she was on the verge of crying. He kept his mouth shut though. "You just got a little confused. It happens to every single one of us."

"Yeah." He wanted so bad to say that he really _did_ mean it, that it wasn't a mistake and that he wasn't confused. In fact, after Angie had left, nothing had been clearer than wanting a family. With Brooke.

"So uhm… What are you going to do with those two tickets?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I don't know. I guess selling them. Or give them to Haley and Nathan or something. God knows they deserve a little family bonding time."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Or… We could still go." He imagined her raising one eyebrow. "As friends." He added quickly.

"Luke, didn't we just say Naley needs it?"

"But what if we need it more?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you think Millicent can take over the company for a few more days?"

"Probably, but-"

"No buts, let's just do it."

She was silent. Too silent for his like. "We'll see." She said eventually.

"But…"

"Like you said, no buts, right? I have to think about it first. Right now I can't really think straight. So, I'll call you tomorrow ok?"

With a defeated sigh he said, "Yeah. Yeah, of course. Bye, Brooke."

"Bye, Lucas."

The conversation didn't really go as planned, but for some reason he was glad it turned out the way it did. If Brooke had said yes, he knew that it had to be just because she was emotional and maybe a little weak and not because her heart had told her so.

He just wished there was still hope for them. As for now, he wasn't so sure.

It all came down on their trip to Vegas.

_fin._


End file.
